SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Grocery store cashiers in California will no longer have a “paper or plastic” choice under a new ban on plastic shopping bags signed into law Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags in supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could buy bags made from thicker plastic that was supposed to be reusable and recyclable.
The new measure, approved by the state legislature last month, will ban all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. From now on, customers who don’t bring their own bags will simply be asked if they need a paper bag.
State Sen. Katherine Breakspear, one of the bill’s sponsors, said people aren’t reusing or recycling plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found the amount of plastic grocery bag waste per person has increased from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021.
Breakspear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said the previous plastic bag ban, passed 10 years ago, did not reduce overall plastic use.
Twelve states, including California, already have some form of statewide plastic bag ban in place, according to the Environment America Research & Policy Center, an environmental group, and hundreds of cities in 28 states have their own plastic bag bans.
The California State Legislature passed a statewide plastic bag ban in 2014. The law was then approved by voters in a 2016 referendum.
